HOW TO DEVELOP INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ EDUCATION? ISSUES AND

HOW TO DEVELOP INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ EDUCATION? ISSUES AND

problems
of education
in the 21st century
Volume 34, 2011
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HOW TO DEVELOP INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES’ EDUCATION? ISSUES AND
SOLUTIONS OF SÁMI EDUCATION
Pigga Keskitalo
Sámi University College, Kautokeino, Norway
E-mail: [email protected]
Kaarina Määttä, Satu Uusiautti
University of Lapland, Finland
E-mail: kaarina.määttä@ulapland.fi, [email protected]
Abstract
This research presents today’s educational challenges of the only indigenous people group in Europe: the
Sámi. The data was collected by school ethnography in Norway during 2001-2007 in six Sámi schools.
In spite of the many centuries’ educational efforts, the Sámi have not managed to form their own school
culture because the current school system has been imported in the Sámi areas by outsiders, namely
western educators and missionary workers. Sámi education relates to a whole new dimension at a time
when Norway is engaged in another Sámi primary school education reform, while in other countries
inhabited by the Sámi people–Finland, Sweden, and Russia–the situation is much more challenging. In
this study, results concerning the history-bound and practical problems of Sámi education are introduced.
Based on the results, it will be discussed how teacher education should be developed and what issues
should be paid attention to in order to develop Sámi education.
Key words: indigenous people, Sámi people, cultural sensitivity, primary school education, teacher
education.
Introduction
The Sámi are the only indigenous people in Europe. The Sámi population of approximately
100 000 people live in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia. About 40 000 of them speak the
Sámi languages that there are altogether nine. They all are endangered languages (Magga &
Skutnabb-Kangas, 2001). Being spread geographically in four countries, the Sámi has faced
numerous problems and challenges directed their culture, including education. At the moment,
teacher education is carried out in those four countries with a Sámi population so that national
instances take care of the Sámi’s teacher education. There are principle differences between
countries related to the manner how they carry out primary school education and primary school
teacher education.
In Norway, the Sámi University College (SUC) in Kautokeino has the principal
responsibility for Bachelor’s degree Sámi primary school teacher education in the whole Sámi
dimension. At the moment, the primary school teacher education is divided into two programs
in Norway: lower secondary primary teacher education for degrees 1-7 and upper secondary
teacher education for degrees 5-10. Both above-mentioned teacher education programs prepare
teachers for grades 5-7 in order to cover the need of teachers in the whole Sámi district.
In Finland, the Sámi language subject teacher education for upper secondary primary
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
problems
of education
in the 21st century
Volume 34, 2011
school and further for vocational and higher education needs is provided by the Giellagas Institute
at the University of Oulu. It has the study programs of the Sámi language and Sámi culture. Both
the University of Lapland and the University of Oulu has quotas for Sámi students in primary
school class teacher education for preschool and grades 1-6. Preschool education is provided
in municipalities either at day care centers or schools. Preschool teacher qualifications can be
obtained by performing kindergarten teacher or the class teacher (M.Ed.) degree. Primary school
teachers must have the Master’s degree in education and teacher pedagogical studies or Nordic
teacher examination. (Decree on teaching personnel‘s qualifications, A 986/1998; Government
decree on changing the decree of teaching personnel‘s qualifications, A 865/2005).
In Sweden, northern teacher education is centered at the Luleå University of Technology
although it does not have any separate program for Sámi teacher students. Instead, the University
has been trying to improve Sámi teachers’ in-service education together with partners in project
cooperation. Sámi educational matters are centralized to Sámi skuvlastivra (Sámi school
board).
In Russia, there are not similar practices towards the Sámi people. Sámi language
instruction aimed to grades 1-4 is stopped at Lovozero ethnic primary school (Rantala, 2011).
The Soviet Union until the year 1991 used the same, unified education system. Since 1991,
many former Soviet republics have attempted to reform and develop their education systems
to meet better the new and international demands; the Bologna Process in particular (see also
Jakku-Sihvonen et al., 2011). However, in Russia, the old Soviet system still exists by the side
of the new system. (The National Board of Education, 2006.)
In this research, the Sámi education has been approached with ethnography aiming at
bringing out structures related to power and otherness and that are also connected to the position
and historical process of Sámi education as well as to the task of school in the diversifying
modern world. The purpose of this research is to expose the micro-level practices at the Sámi
School that cannot be changed until the macro-level practices are developed and improved.
Teacher education acts in a central position in this development process and therefore these
issues are addressed at the end of this article. In culturally sensitive education, indigenous
values ​and starting points are at the center. In order to understand the today’s problems of Sámi
education, it is necessary to know the historical background as well. Next, the historical issues
are briefly introduced followed by the empirical execution of the study and results.
Research data about Sámi education was collected in Norway because the conditions and
resources for Sámi education are there legally and economically the best due to for example the
historical development of human rights. Norway has ratified for example International Labour
Organization (ILO) Convention No. 169 specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal
peoples in 1990 (Ministry of Government Administration, Reform and Church Affairs, 2011).
ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (ILO, 1996/2011).
The Historical Background of Sámi Education
The history of teacher education in Norway is connected to the history of Sámi
education. In 1717, young Sámi people were started to educate in Seminarium Scholasticum
in order to work as teachers of the Sámi people (Dahl, 1959). In 1752–1774 also Seminarium
Lapponicum functioned in Trondheim (Sunnana, 1979) whereas the Norwegian teacher training
department started in Tromso in 1821 (Darnell & Hoëm, 1996; Larsen, 2006). The Sámi worked
as teachers in the field from the beginning and often without any official qualification (Dahl,
1959). Teacher education department in Alta has been operating since 1972 (Pedersen, 2008)
and Sámi allaskuvla in Koutokeino since 1989.
Norway toughened its assimilation policy at the end of the 1860s. The government was
worried about the Finns or the Kven people moving in eastern part of Finnmark, in northern
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Norway, and the operations that were started because of national reasons did not produce results.
According to the state representatives, it seemed that the operations were not efficient enough
to maintain the position of the Norwegian language among the Sámi and the Kven people.
The kven is the Norwegian name for the Finnish settlers and their descendants in northern
Norway. The kven people began to settle in Finnmark from the Late Middle Ages. The regular
migration took place to the two northernmost counties in Norway starting from the early 18th
Century.���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Previous regulations on the teaching of the Sámi and Kven children’s native languages
were abrogated. According to the new regulations, the Sámi and Kven languages could be used
only in exceptional situations when children did not understand things said in the Norwegian
language. Teachers were encouraged to observe children’s language usage even during the
breaks. Assimilation strengthened further at the beginning of the 20th century. For example,
student halls of residence were built and pedagogical methods that were assumed to advance
assimilation the best were developed. (Minde, 2005a, 2005b.)
The purpose of education was already from the start to assimilate the Sámi in the
Norwegian society with the help of Christianity and these assimilation efforts increased in
countries inhabited by the Sámi at the end of the 19th century. Finnefondet started a powerful era
of assimilation in 1851 and it did not end until the end of the 1960s. Finnefondet was a separate
fund aiming at education the Sámi children. (Lund, 2008.) In this way, Norway supported
assimilation also by financing education with a separate budget. The amount of the budget can
be described with the fact that the support for the assimilation of the Sámi was bigger than the
support for the Sámi people’s own activities (Minde, 2005b).
When it comes to the school history of the Sámi, every country with a Sámi population
shares the fact that the Sámi have been the target of powerful assimilation at least until the
1970s. Assimilation policy has lasted for a long time as a wide and target-oriented, systematic
project. School was the most powerful tool of assimilation (Seurujärvi-Kari, Hirvonen, &
Pedersen, 1997). It was not until the 1970s after the missionary period when the Sámi education
was introduced in schools and the Sámi’s own opinions were noticed in educational planning
(Aikio-Puoskari, 2001). This development is to the credit of the extensive awakening of
Sáminess and the rise of the Sámi people (see Lehtola, 2002). The effect of the assimilation
policy is still noticeable at schools but in a more hidden manner (Minde, 2005a; Seurujärvi-Kari
et al., 1997).
The Sámi have perceived and still perceive all this as a one-way assimilation process due
to which they have been obliged to change their language, habits, values, and eventually their
life style similar to the one of the dominant society. Their original cultural identity was replaced
with the culture of surrounding society. The term assimilation has a negative connotation as it
refers to the denial of original culture or abandoning it. Therefore, assimilation is often regarded
as the opposite of integration while the integration has a connection to its opposite segregation
which can mean isolation and denial of the democratic nationality or citizenship.
All in all, it can be stated that at the moment, the Sámi School is in a sort of Rites de
passage -liminal phase, which is a situation that heads toward own school practice. This concept
is originally launched by Arnold van Gennep (1992) and it is connected with socialization.
Research Focus
Previous studies have shown that in indigenous schools there is need for culturally
sensitive thinking (Balto, 1997; Cochran-Smith, 1995; Darnell & Hoém, 1996; Keskitalo,
2003; Keskitalo, 2010; Keskitalo & Määttä, 2011a, 2011b; Keskitalo, Määttä, & Uusiautti,
2011a, 2011b; Lipka, 1998). Furthermore, the term cultural sensitivity is employed: it means
that various cultures are noticed and considered equal and cultural special characteristics are
regarded as important and worth preserving. Conceptually cultural sensitivity can mean many
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
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of education
in the 21st century
Volume 34, 2011
things. There is the lack of definitional clarity in the multicultural literature. In this research,
cultural sensitivity is understood as teaching which is based on the indigenous peoples’ own
values ​and needs.
According to Charles R. Ridley, Danielle W. Mendoza, Bettina E. Kanitz, Lisa Angermeier,
and Richard Zenk (1994), terms such as cultural sensitivity, cross-cultural competence, crosscultural expertise, cross-cultural effectiveness, cultural responsiveness, cultural awareness, and
culturally skilled are being used quite interchangeably and they often appear in the multicultural
literature as though they were synonymous. Furthermore, Arthur L. Whaley (2008) points out
that for example the term cultural competence is often misinterpreted as being knowledgeable
about every culture in existence—even though this kind of knowledge is impossible.
Due to the existing research literature, cultural sensitivity is related often to health care
(see Sanner, Baldwin, Cannella, Charles, & Parker, 2010). The implementation of this term
in the educational sciences is timely. Educators need cultural competence increasingly as the
phenomenon of multiculturalism expands all the time. Furthermore, although institutional
structures have a significant impact, providing opportunities for informal exchanges and
dialogue among diverse student groups has also the potential to have the greatest impact on
learning outcomes, racial/cultural sensitivity, and competency in engaging constructively with
diverse populations (Sanner et al., 2010). Indeed nowadays, many teacher education programs
have included cultural sensitivity training into their curricula in order to educate school-based
professionals and to increase tolerance, embrace diversity, and overcome stereotypes. However,
it seems that the data regarding the outcome of these efforts are often mixed (Sirin, RogersSirin, & Collins, 2010). This is due in part to the great variety in training approaches (CochranSmith, 1995) and the general lack of rigorous program evaluation (Rogers-Sirin, 2008).
The objective was to understand and present the overall situation and special features
of Sámi education at primary school level at Sámi schools. The Sámi School follows the
Sámi curriculum which was launched first in 1997. Grounding on previous research and Sámi
school situation, the purpose of this research was to dissect the main problems and the cultural
sensitivity of Sámi education. The main research question is: What are the main problems of
the Sámi education? This question is analyzed from two perspectives through the following
questions:
1. What kinds of problems originate in the historical background of Sámi education?
2. What kinds of practical problems hinder organizing Sámi education?
Based on the results, the challenges that are involved in teacher training concerning
indigenous issues and how cultural sensitivity could improve the situation of Sámi education
will be discussed.
Methodology of Research
General Background of Research
Naohiro Nakamura suggests that researchers approach indigenous communities from
a learning perspective. “This would encourage open-mindedness and sensitivity. Researchers
should also be prepared and willing to refine their research questions and to continue their literature
searches after their fieldwork is completed. These strategies could limit misinterpretation and
exploitation of Indigenous knowledges and peoples” (Nakamura, 2010, p. 97).
The analysis in this research is based on the first author’s dissertation “Cultural
Sensitivity in The Sámi School through Educational Anthropology” (Keskitalo, 2010). She is
a Sámi teacher herself who studied the classroom culture at the Norwegian Sámi School, its
teaching arrangements and special linguistic and cultural characteristics. Professor Kaarina
Määttä supervised Pigga Keskitalo’s dissertation. Keskitalo, Määttä and Post doc Researcher
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Satu Uusiautti have continued with the theme in a research project which focuses on the issues
of teacher training in multicultural dimension in northern Finland.
The research follows the general ethical requirements of indigenous research. According
to Jelena Porsanger, certain basic requirements concern indigenous peoples’ methodologies,
such as research ethics. It appears in the relationship between researchers who are members of
indigenous peoples and indigenous peoples that are research participants. These questions are
relevant to Sámi epistemology, methodology planning and implementation in Sámi research
projects. (Porsanger, 2007.) Special ethical context-based and situational challenges embody
research on the Sámi. According to Tove Bull (2002), the researcher has to be familiar with
the Sámi’s history, traditions, culture, and language in order to be able to research the Sámi
society. Ethical requirements that concern research among indigenous peoples are, for example,
responsibility for disseminating information and local participation. In addition, researchers
have to respect indigenous values, people, and families. All information has to be handled in
confidence. Furthermore, participants have to approve the research (Porsanger, 2007). Research
results have to be returned to the society where the research was carried out (Bull, 2002; Barron,
2002). In other words, it is important to build and cherish trust between the researcher and
research participants in cooperation. The researcher has to be aware that he/she will meet the
research participants later on as well (Nystad, 2003).
There are many ways of doing science in the indigenous peoples’ school context
(Lipka, 1998) and due to the multidimensional nature of the research target, a combination of
methods may be needed in order to analyze the field as comprehensively as possible (Teddlie
& Tashakkori, 2003). When studying the meanings in the Sámi curriculum, the intentions
provided by the societal situation have to be taken into consideration: both micro and macro
levels involve possibilities and obstacles. Teaching practices are formed, for example, in the
confrontation of various cultures (Moilanen & Räihä, 2001) and therefore, activities connected
to teaching may bear different meanings.
Sample of Research
The research was longitudinal and the sample of data is wide. The situation has been
examined through two Reforms: Curriculum 1997 Sámi O97S (Gonagaslaš girko-, oahpahus- ja
dutkandepartemeanta, 1997) and Sámi Curriculum 2007 Máhttolokten (Máhttodepartemeanta
et al., 2008). Research was divided into two sections. First part was researched as a part of
evaluation project of O97S. The second part was performed as a continuum as there was second
Sámi reform going on.
The research material comprised the research diary and observations on education
provided in the Sámi- and Norwegian-speaking classes in six Sámi schools in Norway between
2001 and 2008, interviews (N=15) and questionnaires of teachers (N=108), pupils’ writings
about their experiences on their instruction organization, entries in the research journal, and
school documents such as annual plans and curricula.
The research method was school ethnography complemented with a combination
of qualitative (ethnography, interviews, and curriculum and other related documents) and
quantitative methods (questionnaires). The main data collection method was thus ethnographical
observation. Therefore altogether, the data was not only abundant but also comprehensive and
diversified. All the results introduced in this article are based on the whole data, but we added
some examples from various data (e.g. video and research diary excerpts, questionnaire results)
within the text.
The questionnaires were sent to all seven teachers working at Sámi schools in the Sámi
language administrative district that covers seven municipalities in addition to Målselv and
Lavangen municipalities (altogether 399 teachers). Completed questionnaires were received
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
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of education
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Volume 34, 2011
from 108 teachers and 54 teachers reported that they do not want to participate. More than
half of the teachers did not respond in spite of the request. The response percent was low (41.7
%) but as it was not the main data. If observations and interviews deviate from the research
questionnaire responses, their reliability should be questioned. A questionnaire-based survey
reveals teachers’ subjective evaluation of educational activities. Therefore, it seemed appropriate
to use various research methods. Instrument and Procedures
The research material has been constructed through social communication and therefore
knowledge has been created in co-operation with the research partners and assessed by the
researchers. Because of the information produced this way in social interaction and cooperation in the multidimensional context of indigenous people, it seems important to use the
term ‘research partner’ like, for example, Erika Katjaana Sarivaara (2010) did. In this research,
knowledge is considered unique and context-bound.
Data Analysis
The research process was cyclic, including the analysis which overlapped with the course
of action (see also Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). Research material was categorized and divided
into appropriate categories which were called meaningful or significant components; however,
by preserving the connection to entirety. The research material was organized inductively; thus,
the analysis is inductive, data-driven (see also Tesch, 1990).
The starting point was in culture relevant education (Balto, 1997; Gibson, 1997; JudénTupakka, 2000a, 2000b, 2003; Pietilä, 2006; Wulf, 2002) and curriculum (Goodlad, Klein &
Tye, 1979; Øzerk, 1999) and school culture studies (Bishop & Glynn, 1999; Cuban, 1993/1984;
Schein, 1987). Due to previous research and the data, the following components emerged:
teaching organization due to time-tables, classroom physical organization and related teaching
methods. It was observed how these factors were implemented in teaching and what kind of
experiences teachers and pupils had on teaching arrangements. The main issue was to elaborate
how the western school culture functions in the Sámi school system where the culture sensitive
ways of organizing teaching could be culturally coherent.
Results of Research
History-bound Issues of Sámi Education
School as such is a foreign concept and institution to the Sámi and it was brought in
the Sámi community by outsiders (Sara, 1987). However, it has been present historically for
a long time. The special features of Sámi education are not considered sufficiently in teaching
arrangements and these problems specifically originate in the history (Keskitalo, 2010;
Keskitalo & Määttä, 2011a, 2011b; Keskitalo, Määttä, & Uusiautti, 2011a, 2011b). As the Sámi
do not have self-governance that would be fully materialized, it is not possible to develop Sámi
education from its own premises. One reason is also the school culture which does not meet
the Sámi’s needs as such and therefore, education at the Sámi School is not culturally sensitive
enough.
Western school dominates instruction at the Sámi School and the way the school organizes
teaching is connected with the historical task of the school, namely, the nature of the school as an
organization and the conditions in which Sámi Schools provide their instruction. The problem
in many Sámi schools is that their pedagogical arrangements and curricula are similar to the
schools of the dominant culture. Students are not socialized into their own cultures because the
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Sámi School is organized based on the prevailing values. Rather than skills and attitudes, it is
affected by the values of the dominant information society.
Moreover, the historical background of living in the area of four different countries greatly
affects Sámi education. Despite the fact that the Sámi have their own culture and language that
are protected with a variety of international agreements and national legislation, the situation
of the Sámi can be described with a power arrangement where the countries tend to determine
about the Sámi’s affairs regardless of their right to self-governance as an indigenous people.
This starting point manifests itself in school laws and curricula that are constructed from the
national starting point. Although Norway takes care of its Sámi population the best among the
countries with the Sámi population, lack of autonomy in educational issues restricts the Sámi. It
limits macro-level practices resulting in leaving micro-level changes as single examples.
According to the research, educational materials are organized patterns. It is problematic,
especially when it comes to Sámi pupils. A school which is organized according to the western
ideology prefers a mechanical and linear view of the world over the cyclical concept of time
which would be typical of indigenous peoples (Darnell & Hoëm, 1996). In addition, indigenous
peoples usually process information holistically. Yet, in schools the way of sharing information
is fragmented and authoritarian.
The dominance of lectern-style teaching can be considered one leftover from the history.
It may be one salient distinctive feature of western schooling. Jari Salminen (2002) regards it
as a historical function of school that is also connected to church. The examples of organizing
classrooms derive long back to teacher education as well because the model was strictly defined
for example teacher education text books already in the 1930s. The location of the teacher’s desk
in front of the classroom on the lectern was justified by claiming that it stresses the presence of
the teacher and his or her authority. In addition, it helped the teacher to see all the way to the
back of the classroom. (see Paksuniemi, 2009.)
It can be stated, that the Sámi curriculum is a copy of the Norwegian national curriculum
(Øzerk, 1999). In addition, it appeared that the curriculum determines the organization and
content of teaching to a great extent (see also Telhaug, 2005). In this sense, the Norwegian
curriculum is still normative by nature: its time allocation between thematic organization
and project teaching has continuously been defined only indicatively in O97S curriculum.
Determining time allocation at the curriculum level may be one reason that the teaching has
not changed: instead, time table is usually devised according to the traditional model–that is
according to the subject and class division–in the administrative district of the Sámi language
and areas where the Sámi curriculum is in use in addition in some single schools or classes
outside the Sámi administrative district.
At school where the hidden curriculum has a big influence, the interaction between the
teacher and students is almost totally one-way: a teacher teaches and students study. In this kind
of teacher-led teaching, the conditions of teaching become more significant than informational
contents in school work. These conditions are for example the sustenance of discipline and
order and following the school schedules. (see also Saukkonen, 2001.) The problems that stem
from the historical background are also closely connected to practical problems in organizing
Sámi education. Practical Issues in Organizing Sámi Education
The short tradition of Sámis’ own education alongside with power relations results in
deficiencies at every level, such as constant lack of qualified teachers and cultural sensitive
learning materials produced in the Sámi language. Although the situation has improved a bit
since the beginning of Sámi teacher education and production of Sámi learning material, and
improved legal status of Sámi as an indigenous people, there are some practical problems that
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
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of education
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Volume 34, 2011
became apparent in this research.
According to the results, teachers seemed to have a need to control the classroom
situations so that the general order is maintained. Based on the observation, it appeared obvious
that teachers appreciate calm working atmosphere where every student works independently.
When considered from a student-centered point of view, it resembles learning alone.
“Because of the restlessness that occurs in the classroom pupils have to sit apart from each other.
Teachers demand that pupils should concentrate on silent working. It is carried out so that teachers
watch that pupils focus only on their text books. Teachers will intervene if pupils glance around or try
to discuss with others. It seems to me that these endeavors were connected with a need for help from costudents to finish the tasks.” (Video data and research diary at the juvenile school level, fall 2001.)
The prime challenges of Sámi education relate to scheduling, use of space, and learning
conception. The so-called traditional model of a classroom is the one where desks are placed
in rows and teacher’s desk in front of the classroom next to the blackboard. According to the
questionnaire, teaching in Sámi schools was organized according to this kind of arrangement
(Table 1). Almost half of the teachers reported that pupils sit in the rows of desks. One third of
the teachers reported having desks in group. Only four percent of teachers told that they change
the order of desks.
Table 1. The organization of the classroom according to the teachers.
The way of organizing
Desks are placed apart
Desks are in groups
The order changes
No answer
Total
N (%)
51 (48)
33 (30)
5 (4)
19 (18)
108 (100)
Many teachers would be able to organize the learning environment in a more motivating
manner if schedules, small teaching premises and classrooms, and subject division did not limit
teaching. Teachers’ work is based on many routines that are not necessarily born as a result
of their own thinking and choices but are merely ways of action of the school institution (see
Moilanen & Räihä, 2001).
“Again, they lay out the text books. No one is allowed to talk but everyone has to do their tasks
silently. Teachers wander in the classroom giving advice and because of the high number of pupils there
are two teachers in some classes. Teachers take over the space by going round the classroom. Pupils
work independently. One difficult task is taught jointly to the whole classroom. The teacher praises the
pupils at the end of the lesson because working had gone so well.” (Video data at the juvenile school
level, math lesson, fall 2001.)
Silence is the word to describe teaching. The same pattern repeats itself from lesson to
lesson and day to another. Previous examples show that social constructivist teaching has not
taken root but behaviorism seems to be the dominant trend. The problem can be located in
teachers’ own experiences at school, teacher education, and in-service education. Therefore,
teachers’ intentions and concrete behavior did not seem to be convergent with the curriculum
text or the practice.
“In the old curriculum before the O97S, M87, the elements of teaching were defined in a better
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way. Now, the curriculum may only say for example ‘grammar’. The teacher has to plan and observe
when each thing has to be taught. The earlier curriculum, M87, and previous experiences help. In
addition, text books determine the contents of teaching. Annual plans have to be written again every
year in many subjects which is laborious. Old annual plans are not adaptable as such because every year
the student group is different. It concerns especially language subjects. One student may be perfectly
bilingual while the other does not know the language to be studied at all. The emphases of curricula
may also be weird or contradictory vis-à-vis situations in practice. The objectives are expressed in a
vague way which is one of the weakest sides of the curriculum. It causes problems because, for example,
continuity is missing.” (An interview at the juvenile level, Teacher No. 6, fall 2001.)
Therefore, implementing the curriculum in practice is not easy to teachers but requires
professional skills and experience. Indeed, O97S appears quite challenging and because the
teachers’ qualification requirement is lower university degree, it seems that the tools provided
by teacher education and practical challenges do not always meet. In addition, the amount of
teachers’ pedagogical studies was only 10 study weeks (= 15 ECTS) in teacher education. In
2010, it was raised to 60 ECTS points.
Discussion: Teacher Education as a Route to Change
Kamil Øzerk (1999) has argued that in modern schools teachers are not autonomous
enough and they should be given more power and responsibility as well as opportunities to
handle entities. Likewise, Edward Conrad Wragg (1999) emphasizes that teachers have to be
able to use their imagination in teaching instead of blindly following the curriculum. Indeed, it
is interesting to contemplate what teachers would think about increasing responsibility for the
execution of teaching.
Frank Darnell and Anton Hoëm (1996) state that a less hierarchical school system will
not come true until school days include various activities and exercises. In addition, various
flexible ways of organizing should be favored as well as grouping that breaks down age and
grade levels. Simultaneously, more flexible use of time and space should be stressed. It requires
giving up the traditional time allocation and organizing the school day into seven or eight
segments (Sizer, 1985). Transforming teachers’ beliefs into observable pedagogies and practices
in the classroom is clearly problematic (Jorgensen, Grootenboer, Niesche, & Lerman, 2010).
Appropriate professional learning for practicing teachers and the incorporation of indigenous
knowing in teaching methods training in teacher preparation seems warranted (McConney,
Oliver, Woods-McConney, & Schibeci, 2011). The research argues that there is the need for
non-indigenous student-teachers to be better prepared to work alongside indigenous colleagues
and to take more active roles in the implementation of policy and initiatives around indigenous
education (Santoro & Reid, 2006). In order to realize the above-mentioned reforms in practice, teachers should have better
qualifications for changing teaching. Teachers’ traditional pedagogical skills are not enough in
multicultural schools because the everyday happenings that take place in the classroom are so
versatile. Teachers’ capacity to adopt the new role calls for supplementary education. Therefore,
a variety of issues concern school, education, and curriculum planning, educational policy,
Sámi policy, school culture, and teachers’ role.
A crucial path toward change is teacher education that provides students with new visions
of teaching and allows them to try new working methods. As this research was concerned
with Sámi education, the conclusion is that Sámi rearing methods (see Balto, 1997) should be
utilized more in education because it would increase pupils’ studying motivation. Schools and
municipalities have to update local plans in order to enable teachers to work according to the
curriculum (see also Keskitalo, 2003).
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
problems
of education
in the 21st century
Volume 34, 2011
It seems that the curriculum and the school should be adjusted with the surrounding
cultural, economic, and geographical factors. It is important the northern school systems would
adjust to the changing conditions in circumpolar regions (Darnell & Hoëm, 1996). In this kind
of pedagogy, pupils would be taught such skills, attitudes, and knowledge with which they
can succeed. The fundamental starting point is teacher education and providing prospective
teachers with knowledge and skills that enable them use pedagogies that will strengthen pupils’
language and cultural identity and thus improve the situation of the Sámi in general.
Many of the teachers seemed to be unfamiliar and even blind or feel themselves
helpless with the demands and nuances of teaching in remote and/or indigenous contexts. The
discrepancy between beliefs and practices derives from teachers’ increasing awareness that they
should implement changed practices to enable students to learn–yet, they have little knowledge
about what such practices may look like. (Jorgensen et al., 2010.)
The teacher profession has many facets. Firstly, teachers have to be good at human
relationship. Therefore, interaction skills with a healthy self-esteem and a strong personality are
appreciated. Teachers are expected to be experts who are able to act as consultants in pedagogical
problems. The good teachers will meet students as persons, and they have also abilities to analyze
the social phenomena of the future. Knowledge about ethical issues, responsibility, and fairness
are also valued parts of teacher profession. Prospective teachers have to be active and interested
in many questions of the future. (see Soidinmäki, 2009.) In addition to the general knowledge
about education, the indigenous context necessitates from a good teacherhood special expertise
on multiculturalism and multilingualism in relation to the indigenous people’s context. These
������
findings have implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education.
Conclusions
This research showed that if the aim is to develop Sámi education, it is important to
know what kind of cultural-historical phases it is premised on. These background phenomena
can be defined as fundamental factors that form the historically determined burden to the
independent formation of Sámi education. It covers factors such as colonization, liminalization,
multiculturalism, and limited self-determination of the Sámi education. On the other hand,
the developing the practices of Sámi education necessitates renewing the implementation of
teaching and paying attention to the inner action that takes place in classrooms and at schools.
The quality of teaching depends decidedly on how the Sámi succeeds in creating pedagogy that
leans on Sámi culture, culturally sensitive teaching. Then, it is important to develop the Sámi’s
own independent curriculum, strengthen the position of their own language, create culturalsensitive teaching arrangements, and diversify the extensive cooperation. Given this multidimensional starting point, the development of Sámi education has to be directed simultaneously
both on the outer or background factors as well as on the practical level. Realizing that without
proper, propitious framework, any improvements cannot be executed in practice—and vice
versa: without implementing new approaches in practice in teaching not, new ideas introduced
at the macro-level will not be efficient or rooted in the everyday life.
Culturally sensitive school notices the important role of the local culture and its worldview
and values when it comes to teaching arrangements. According to this research, the development
aspirations will come to a sudden end if the expanded self-governance is not realized. The
directional document of the Sámi School, in other words the Sámi curriculum, should be an
independent institution, not a copy of the national curriculum. Likewise, developing teacher
education in a more independent direction is essential in order to fully meet the challenges of the
Sámi School. Highlighting the importance of Sámi upbringing and Sámi pedagogy powerfully in
public debates would support the task of the Sámi School. Sámi education has the possibility to
draw from cultural diversity as long as the micro- and macro-level are improved. Sámi teachers
43
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44
do excellent job and try to rise to the various challenges of the demanding heterogeneous crosscultural situation they face in their work daily in the best possible way.
In order to make Sámi education cultural-sensitive, it has to perceive the meaning of
the socialization task of the school organization. Therefore, it should also be considered what
kind of cultural well-being Sámi education constructs. The Sámi curriculum should form the
stone base of educational development. Thus, the curriculum would lay the foundation for
supporting cultural sensitivity and cultural diversity. A curriculum should support teaching in
functional indigenous peoples’ education by having indigenous peoples’ culture, knowledge,
and information in the center. This kind of curriculum which combines the indigenous people’s
knowledge and western way of thinking should be developed in active cooperation with the
indigenous people’s community. The curriculum that leans on Sámi conception of time, place,
and knowledge should provide such a learning environment, teaching activity, and didactics
that it not bound to a specific subject.
Well-functioning education of indigenous peoples also advances the indigenous peoples’
language usage simultaneously supporting the proficiency of national and international languages.
According to the ideology of multilingualism, language is not only a communication tool but
also a central cultural element. Teaching and learning should be implemented in the indigenous
people’s language and it should also include the indigenous peoples’ fund of knowledge in
the curriculum. Learning material in indigenous peoples’ language should be produced and
tested locally and the whole teaching and especially teaching reading skills should focus on
the indigenous children’s own language at the initial phase of education. It enables moving
on to learning other languages progressively and in a culturally suitable manner that notices
the learners’ own needs and starting points. Native speakers of indigenous peoples’ languages
should be hired as teachers.
Educational culture that leans on Sámi pupils’ cultural and experiential strength would
make both pupils and their parents as well as teachers understand themselves, their culture, and
others’ cultures, too. Naturally, securing the teaching and learning of Sámi language with all its
teaching arrangements requires time, the development of didactics for reading and writing the
Sámi language, creating a functional model of bilingualism and cutting down other arrangements
related to the school system. Language revitalization programs and strategies must be brought
to schools and the society in general. Some such follow-throughs have been implemented in
Nordic Countries; for example, learning materials in the Sámi language are produced. However,
these matters have to be further developed to avoid the problem of translating the western
material directly into the Sámi language without adjusting the material to the Sámi culture.
School ethnography is an important tool for realizing these issues. Assimilating procedures at
school, such as culturally unadjusted learning materials, remain otherwise unexposed.
In order to develop, Sámi education needs new research. Future studies could be some
kinds of collaborative projects where researchers could observe teaching together with teachers.
Teaching still needs to be studied from various points of view. In addition, there is need to test
Sámi pupils because there is not much information about Sámi-speaking pupils’ plane, learning,
and school achievement available. Carrying on discussion about values in Sámi education would
be extremely timely. Bringing up special features of Sámi education is salient to the research
on the above-mentioned issues. After the background and context are gotten straight, it will be
possible to focus on examining individual phenomena in Sámi education.
Acknowledgements
This paper draws upon research conducted as part of a four year doctoral research project
of first writer and funded by Sámi University. University of Lapland has been the site for his
doctoral work with Professor Kaarina Määttä as the supervisor. A warm thanks to all Sámi
teachers and students who allowed observing their working days at schools.
Pigga KESKITALO, Kaarina MÄÄTTÄ, Satu UUSIAUTTI. How to Develop Indigenous Peoples` Education? Issues and Solutions of
Sami Education
problems
of education
in the 21st century
Volume 34, 2011
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Accepted: October 12, 2011
Pigga Keskitalo
PhD, Associate Professor, Sámi
����� University
����������� College,
��������� �����������������
Hánnoluohkká 45,
9520 Kautokeino����������
, Norway.
E-mail: [email protected]
Kaarina Määttä
PhD, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Lapland, P.O. Box
122, FI-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland.
E-mail: kaarina.määttä@ulapland.fi
Satu Uusiautti
Ed.D., Post doc Researcher, University of Lapland, Faculty of Education,
Lepolantie 29, 01830 Lepsämä, Finland.
E-mail: [email protected]
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